Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 7
By Khalid Kazimov – Trend:
The Islamic Republic of Iran Railways in collaboration with Iraq’s national railway operator will launch a combined route connecting Iranian capital city of Tehran to Iraqi holy city of Karbala.
Mir Hassan Mousavi, deputy head of the Islamic Republic of Iran Railways, has said the route will be launched on November 8, IRNA news agency reported.
According to the report, a train will leave Tehran on Tuesdays for border city of Shalamcheh where the passengers will get off the train and will take a bus to travel to Iraq’s Basra city and then will reach Karbala by another train.
The decision comes prior to Arbaeen ceremony which marks the end of the 40-day mourning for the grandson of the Islamic prophet Muhammad.
Every year a large number of Shia Muslim pilgrims, mostly from Iran, gather in the Iraqi city of Karbala for the ceremony. Last year two million Iranians attended the ceremony in Karbala and the Islamic Republic’s officials forecast that about three million Iranian pilgrims will participate in the ritual this year.
